The continued vilification of IMF by Kenyans disenchanted by a government that cannot account for the numerous loans it receives is a manifestation that the freedoms for which many gallant sons and women of this country died fighting are the cornerstone of our country.
However, we risk losing this important aspect of our Constitution by forces out to gag Jubilee voters in the three previous presidential elections from expressing their fury with the current state of our economy. No one has the monopoly of human rights crusade and accountability. One doesn't lose their conscience just because they elected a government that convincingly promised heaven but has delivered a disastrous earth. Neither do they cease feeling the painful pangs of state-sanctioned corruption.
Our history is replete with yesteryear's accountability advocates who lost their biting fangs the moment they joined the high table of feasting that is the government. However, this shouldn't give their supporters the feeling of entitlement that without them no Kenyan can rise against inefficacy in leadership.
We're experiencing tough economic times that didn't just start with the Covid-19 virus as some quarters within government would want it to look like. Billions continue to be unashamedly lost in shady deals, and despite the public outcry the suspects often go scot-free.
Evidence is always nor sufficient when a big fish is charged, but when a small fish crawls into the corridors of justice, it is easily presented. We are the only country where judges talk of backlog of cases when senior government and state officials are on trial, but when it's the downtrodden, the cases are concluded with the quickness of a boxing bout.
As a result, this brazen looting of public funds has seen Kenyans go without food, fail to pay schools and live in desolate conditions. Yet we have people who believe these issues are not valid because some people woke up and voted for Jubilee government.
Kenyans who go against their ethnic, regional and sectarian voting blocks to condemn graft practises should be lauded, rather than be reminded of their past. War on corruption and mismanagement of resources requires unity of purpose, not pulling to different directions. One may have been embittered by the outcome of the past presidential elections, but keeping the bitterness isn't the solution. It only breeds division, whose ugly side has perennially resulted into bloodbath.
The handshake between erstwhile rivals Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta has shown the country that our politicians are two sides of a coin, and would always root for their interests. Let us not allow the old wounds be the reason this country is sank into the ugly waters of corruption.
If there is a time Kenyans must unite against this monster of corruption, then it's today.
Joab Apollo is a freelance journalist and writer
@ApolloJoab
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